This invention relates to tire mold cleaning and especially to automated sidewall cleaning of the tire mold halves without removing the mold halves from the tire press.
Tire mold cleaning apparatus such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,155 have been designed for cleaning a tire mold while in the press with an abrasive such as glass beads. One of the problems with this type of cleaner is the removal of the spent abrasive from the tire mold. It has been proposed to use frozen CO2 as the abrasive which leaves no residue. With the CO2 cleaning a high noise level is created requiring a sound curtain to be placed around the mold. Enclosures for the mold which are soundproof have been proposed, however, this requires removing the mold from the tire press. The mold cleaner also needs to clean the upper and lower mold halves without removing either of these mold halves from the tire press. This creates a problem in adapting the cleaning apparatus to maintain the spray nozzle at a constant distance from the mold surface while adjusting the position of the spray nozzle to different spacing between the mold halves depending upon the size of the tire press.
The present invention is directed to a portable tire mold cleaning apparatus for cleaning the sidewall forming surface of the mold with frozen CO2 without removing the mold from the tire press. The mold cleaning apparatus may be transported to the tire press and quickly set up in the breech ring of the press. The spray nozzle is rotated and moved radially as well as axially to follow the contour of the mold. The nozzle is mounted for rotation on a horizontal shaft and can be swiveled from a down position for cleaning the lower mold half to an upper position for cleaning the upper mold half.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a tire mold mounted in a tire press, the tire press having an upper mold half positioned over a lower mold half and movable vertically to open and close the mold characterized by:
(a) a supporting frame for mounting over said lower mold half and under the upper mold half;
(b) a rotatable frame mounted on the supporting frame for rotation about a horizontal axis;
(c) a nozzle for spraying a cleaning material on mold surfaces of the upper mold half and the lower mold half mounted on a control arm supported on the rotatable frame;
(d) means to rotate the rotatable frame about the horizontal axis to move the control arm from a down position for spraying the cleaning material on the lower mold half to an up position for spraying the cleaning material on the upper mold half; and,
(e) means to traverse the control arm circumferentially of the tire mold about a vertical mold axis with the rotatable frame in the down position and in the up position.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of cleaning a tire mold having an upper mold half positioned over a lower mold half and movable vertically to open and close said mold with a portable cleaning apparatus having a supporting frame, a rotatable frame mounted on the supporting frame, a nozzle for spraying cleaning material mounted on a control arm supported on the rotatable frame and in communication with a source of cleaning material characterized by the steps of:
(a) mounting the supporting frame over the lower mold half;
(b) rotating the rotatable frame to a position with the control arm in an up position wherein the nozzle in directed at a mold surface of the upper mold half;
(c) communicating cleaning material to a nozzle to project the material against the mold surface of the upper mold half;
(d) traversing the nozzle circumferentially of the upper mold half on the control arm for cleaning the mold surface of the upper mold half;
(e) rotating the rotatable frame to a position with the control arm in a down position wherein the nozzle is directed at a mold surface of the lower mold half;
(f) traversing the nozzle circumferentially of the lower mold half on the control arm for cleaning the mold surface of the lower mold half; and,
(g) removing the supporting frame from the lower mold half.